Once they arrived at her home, Blaine and Eleanor were quick to park their vehicles and exit. On the other hand, Thea remained in the street as she tried to search for a parking spot. A knock came on her car window and she looked over to see Blaine standing there. He told her to roll it down, which she did.
“I don’t think you should stick around for all of this, Thea,” Blaine said. “It’s getting late. You should really be getting home.”
“Are you sure?” Thea asked, gazing towards Fred’s house. Eleanor was already talking to Fred under her doorway, probably informing her about everything that was going on.
Blaine nodded. “I’ve got everything covered. You don’t need to stay.”
Realizing that he had a point, Thea nodded and decided to head off. She made her way out of the area, taking the road that would lead her straight home.
As she drove down the near empty streets, her mind wondered about the developing case. Not to mention, she couldn’t help but think about the people involved. Eleanor and Fred were at the forefront, since they were the ones being blackmailed by Marcel when he was still alive.
However, she still considered the other people involved. Thorn and his group were still considered suspects, but based on the conversation she and Blaine had with him, the chance that he actually killed Marcel was slim. After all, their club was only for fun. She reasoned that they wouldn’t have wanted to get involved in a murder just for the sake of it.
Francis was yet another possibility. He had a lot to gain with Marcel out of the picture. He was now the head chef of Cuisine Maline, a distinguished position that gave him a lot of attention and bolstered his reputation throughout the town. There was nothing that directly implicated him in Marcel’s death, but she didn’t want to risk it. She couldn’t trust anyone.
Lastly, there was Sandra. She was an enigma that Thea was still trying to figure out. On one hand, she wanted to believe that her sympathy was genuine and that she truly wanted to find out who Marcel’s murderer was. On the other, Thea wondered if it was all an act. What if she carried this out as vengeance for how Marcel treated her near the end of their relationship? Thea wasn’t going to rule her out just yet.
Just as she was ready to brush off the case as something to worry about for another day, she recalled her conversation with Eleanor and how she mentioned that Marcel must have had blackmail on half of the town. While that comment disturbed her in the moment, she didn’t realize the implications of that until it hit her like a freight train.
In an instant, Thea stomped on the brakes hard enough to make her wheels skid loudly. Her hands gripped the steering wheel tightly as she swerved into a hard U-turn, turning around and speeding off towards the direction she originally came from.
If what Eleanor said was true, then she wouldn’t have been the only one who would have wanted to destroy the blackmail Marcel owned while the rest of the town enjoyed the Harvest Festival.
For that reason, Thea raced back to Marcel’s home as quickly as she could.
Chapter 27
Thea parked her car up the block, far enough from Marcel’s house to not get spotted but still close enough to see the front clearly. Twisting the keys in the ignition to turn the car off, she waited in the dark to see if she would catch anyone.
After a few tense moments, she wondered if she was making the right choice. The knot forming in her stomach was making her uncomfortable.
“If I’m wrong,” she muttered to herself, “then nothing is about to happen.”
And if I’m right, I’d better be on my guard, she tacked on silently.
Waiting in the darkness gave her plenty of time to doubt her theory. However, she had just started to feel foolish and think of going home when something caught her eye.
Thea froze at the sight of a dark figure hurrying across the street. Only their silhouette was visible, easy to miss due to how fast they were going. However, Thea tracked their movements closely and watched as they stumbled onto Marcel’s porch.
They took a quick look around before leaning over to fiddle with the door handle. After a few seconds, they entered the house as if it was theirs. Thea’s blood ran cold as she realized that her suspicions were confirmed.
With trembling fingers, she reached for her phone and typed a quick text for Blaine. The message was littered with typos, thanks to her nerves, but she was certain that he would understand what she was saying. After pressing send, she exited her car and headed towards Marcel’s home to confront the person.
She knew that she had to be careful. Her footsteps were light as she followed the same path the stranger took before they disappeared into the house. Fortunately for her, they managed to leave the front door unlocked. With a deep breath, she twisted the handle and pushed through, bracing for the worst.
In the darkness, she was able to see the figure standing in the middle of the hallway that led towards Marcel’s bedroom. Goosebumps spread along her arms at the sight. Just as she closed the door a little too loudly for her liking, it dawned on her that she was unarmed.
And the intruder whipped around with a gun in his grasp. She stared at him blankly.
“Dennis,” she breathed out.
This version of Dennis was much different than the one she met in A Stitch in Time. He wasn’t even the same person he was in front of his wife and kids. He was trembling violently, frequently wiping the palms of his hands along his clothes to clear off the accumulating sweat. His aim on Thea faltered once he recognized her. Still, he kept his sights on her.
“What are you doing here?” he stammered, shaking his head. “Y-you’re not supposed to be in here. No one is supposed to be in here. I thought it would be empty!”
“This is about what happened between you and Marcel, right?” Thea asked carefully, holding her hands out in front of her. She didn’t want to agitate him. “I heard that he had blackmail on half of the town… he had something on you, didn’t he?”
Dennis’ bottom lip quivered as he gripped the gun with his two hands. His eyes began to swell up with tears, obscuring his vision. A few droplets escaped when he blinked and he used the side of his arm to wipe away at the wetness.
“I-I needed to get rid of the photos,” Dennis whispered out. “I needed to destroy the evidence he had against me.”
“What evidence, Dennis?” Thea prompted gently, taking a step towards him. In response, Dennis’ eyes widened and he took a step back as his grip on the gun tightened. Thea frowned. “What was Marcel using against you?”
“He was going to destroy my marriage,” he replied softly, as the tears continued to fall. “He wanted to ruin my reputation. He… he tricked me into entering a nightclub. I was a fool, but I was tired and needed a way to loosen up, so I followed after him. He took advantage of my trust that day. He must have given me a drink that was laced with some sort of drug because I can hardly remember the details.”
His eyes held a profound sadness in them as he continued to explain his ordeal.
“He managed to take some pictures of me with another woman. After that, he used those photos against me. He threatened to mail them to my wife if I didn’t do whatever he wanted. He wanted to destroy my reputation and tear my family apart.”
Thea swallowed thickly. “So that’s why you did it, huh? Is that why you killed Marcel?”
Dennis brought a fist to his mouth as he muffled a sob. He bit down onto his lip hard, doing his best to silence the whimpers that were escaping him. Thea knitted her brows together as she watched the scene.
“I-I had to. I had no other choice,” Dennis explained desperately. “Those photos are the reason why I was forced to give him the Best Restaurant title, even though it wasn’t deserving of it. Once he realized the benefits he had gained by manipulating me, he didn’t want to stop there. He asked for more favors from me. Things that I didn’t want to do.”
Wiping harshly under his eyes until the area turned sore, Dennis was determined to stop crying. He was taking deep breaths as a
way to calm himself down.
“On that night, he had asked me to meet him in the middle of the corn maze. He was going to blackmail me again and I knew that. So when I went to talk to him, I made sure to bring along a little gift,” he said, motioning towards the pistol in his hand. “It was the only thing I could do.”
“And the blackmail,” Thea replied, pointing towards the bedroom. “The photos are in that safe he keeps in his closet, aren’t they? Do you know how to open it?”
“I…” Dennis began, wetting his lips in thought. “I was wondering how to get into the safe box. I had studied the model so I have a good idea on what–”
One of the doors within the house kicked open, startling Thea and Dennis into pausing their conversation. He glanced around, searching for the source of that sound. Thea did the same, with her back against the front door and her hand on the handle in case she needed to make a break for it.
Suddenly, someone cocked their gun and the sound was deafeningly loud against their tense silence. Their eyes widened in unison as footsteps inched their way closer to the living room.
Chapter 28
A small part of her hoped that it was just Blaine. She remembered the text she sent him before entering Marcel’s house, realizing that he must have received it by then. However, the person who emerged from the shadows of the dark room wasn’t him at all.
It was Sandra.
“I knew it,” she said, pointing her own gun straight at Dennis.
In return, he did the same to her. Her aim was much more steady and confident than Dennis’ own, which made Thea suck in an astonished breath. Were they really going to end up shooting each other in Marcel’s house?
“I had a feeling it was you,” Sandra continued, scowling at Dennis. “There was always something off about you. Something suspicious. I should have known sooner.”
“Why are you acting as if Marcel was innocent from this?” Dennis challenged, his gun shaking slightly as he pointed at her. “Didn’t you hear the things he would do to other people? How he would blackmail them and use them for his own bidding?”
“That doesn’t justify murder,” Sandra retorted. “And you just admitted that you shot him in that corn maze. You were the one who took him from me.”
“Why did you suspect that it was Dennis in the first place?” Thea piped up from her spot near the corner of the room. “Why did you call him suspicious?”
Sandra scoffed, her eyes never leaving Dennis. “I knew that Marcel had made a lot of enemies doing what he did, so I figured that one of them must have been responsible for his murder. I was watching Dennis tonight, and when I saw him leave the festival in a hurry, I decided to come after him. Something told me that he was up to no good.”
“Your lousy ex-boyfriend was never up to any good, either. Didn’t he cheat on you?” Dennis asked.
“Shut up, you have no room to talk. You just admitted that you cheated on your wife!”
“That was–” Dennis hissed out, gritting his teeth at her. “You’ve got a lot of nerve.”
“And so do you,” Sandra shot back at him. She turned to look at Thea. “When he realized that someone had already entered Marcel’s house before he did, he called the cops on them like the rat he is. I watched him for a while and he waited until everyone was gone before entering. He’s sneaky, I’ll give him that.”
“And you’re disgusting for trying to defend a man who openly blackmailed other people. Did neither of you have any shame?” Dennis asked her, in an attempt to evoke a reaction out of her.
Instead, Sandra continued to gaze at Thea, explaining her side of the story.
“I was going to follow in after him, but you appeared out of nowhere. It kind of scared me to see you here since… you know….” She gave Thea a look. “You’re the mayor’s niece, and all. But when I saw that you never came out, I only assumed that this man might have done something to you. That’s why I barged in.”
Dennis shook his head. “I would never hurt someone who has done nothing wrong. Marcel should have had the decency to do the same, but we can’t expect much from a person with no morals.”
“I came here to kill you, Dennis,” Sandra said outright, which took Thea aback. “I swore that I was going to kill the person who took Marcel away from me. And now that I know that it’s you, I’m here to make good on that promise.”
“You’re willing to kill for the man who didn’t even care about you?” Dennis balked. “The same man who slept around while you were together?”
“I loved him,” she replied. “That didn’t matter to me. I still love him even now. That’s why I’m going to avenge him.”
As she raised the gun higher to aim it directly at Dennis’ face, Thea stepped forward quickly. She didn’t want a bullet to fire by accident.
“Sandra, wait!” Thea called out. “Dennis is going to pay for his crimes, I promise you that, but you shouldn’t take matters into your own hands. You’re only going to make things worse for yourself.”
“Why should I have any sympathy for him if he was the one who shot Marcel?”
“Marcel was blackmailing him. And like you said, that’s no excuse for murder, but Dennis felt as if he had no other choice,” Thea explained, trying to reason with her. Sandra still held a cold expression. “I’m sure Marcel wouldn’t want you getting into trouble over him.”
At that, Sandra faltered. Clenching her jaw, she slowly lowered the gun. Dennis did the same, albeit gradually. He didn’t want her to pull any tricks.
When she didn’t, and when Thea finally managed to calm the two of them down, she convinced Sandra into opening the safe for Dennis to retrieve the blackmail against him. They watched as she leaned over and inputted the code. 666.
Thea let out an unamused sigh at that. Marcel really didn’t take any of this seriously, did he? It was such a shame.
Dennis gathered up every photo and document within the safe into his arms, dumping them into the nearest trash can. He then proceeded to light it all on fire, watching in satisfaction as all of that evidence against so many people withered away into dust.
Meanwhile, Thea comforted a distraught Sandra on the living room couch. She felt bad for her, even though she openly admitted that she wanted to kill Dennis for what he had done. She was love-struck and she was heartbroken. That was a dangerous mix and it wasn’t making her see things clearly.
Before long, a familiar face barged through the front door of the house. Blaine gazed at Thea, but furrowed his eyebrows as his nose was filled with the smell of smoke.
“He’s in there,” Thea nodded towards the bedroom, still rubbing Sandra’s back as the woman hunched over in her seat. “He admitted to everything. Sandra and I are both witnesses.”
Although Blaine wanted to ask more questions, he decided that it wasn’t the right time or place. The sight was confusing, to say the least. However, their murderer was finally found and that was his main priority. He could ask Thea to fill in the gaps for him later.
Chapter 29
Flipping through the newspaper, Dennis’s arrest was front page news. The headline detailed his capture in big, bold letters while the picture showed as officers escorted him into the police station. The article discussed the investigation in greater detail, but Thea skimmed past most of that. There was no need to read over the things she already knew.
Setting aside the paper, she looked up just in time to watch as Francis brought her a fresh cup of iced water and a small entrée. There was a slight smile on his face, apologetic for the minor wait.
“I hope you can enjoy this,” he said, arranging the meal neatly on her table. “The restaurant always gets a little busier during this time.”
“Don’t worry about it, Francis, thank you,” Thea responded, ready to dig into the meal. “How has it been going recently? Do you like being the head chef?”
Francis let out a playful sigh, taking a quick glance around the bustling diner. “Well, it’s definitely been keeping me busy. I never expecte
d this to happen to me, nevertheless having to see my own boss lose his life to get this position… but I’m just doing what I can to make the most of it.”
Sticking her fork into a piece of chicken, Thea offered him a sympathetic nod. She could somewhat understand that. She couldn’t imagine the stress that would be on her shoulders if she had to take charge of such an important position unexpectedly. A lot of people wouldn’t have been able to handle that amount of pressure.
“You seem to be doing pretty well,” Thea commented, watching as the servers around them worked efficiently to serve the best meals possible. “Things are running smoothly. That shows that you’re doing a great job.”
“I really hope so,” Francis replied, wiping his hands on one of the rags he kept in his pocket. “Everyone seems to be happier. I’m just glad that all of my hard work is paying off.”
Just as he was turning away to get back to work, he stopped himself. The look on his face was a mix of shame and embarrassment, as his ears started turning pink.
“And, uh… do you think we should forfeit the title of Best Restaurant? We didn’t win that award based on our own merit. Marcel had to blackmail the organization into giving us that title. It doesn’t feel right keeping it. It feels... tainted.”
“If that’s what feels right to do, then do it,” Thea advised, wiping the side of her mouth with a napkin. “Personally, I would feel the same way as you do. I wouldn’t want that award either. Maybe you should talk to the Better Business Bureau about all of this. I’m sure you’ll find better answers with them.”
Francis nodded, deciding that it was the best option to take. “I’ll look into that, then. Thank you Thea. I hope you enjoy your meal!”
***
After her meal at Cuisine Maline, Thea made her way back to her house where Granny and Aunt Tiegen were waiting for her. She found them in the dining room, chatting over their cups of coffee. Seeing Thea enter made the two of them smile, beckoning her over to join them.
Creature Magic (Tabby Kitten Mystery Series Book 2) Page 10